liibulletin-ny

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PETITION - CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

ISSUE & DISPOSITION

Issue

Whether a juvenile delinquency petition
accusing a youth of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance
is legally sufficient where the petition is accompanied only by the deposition
of the officer involved in the "buy and bust" operation who states
that the presence of the controlled substance was established by a "NIK"
field test.

Disposition

Yes. A deposition tending to corroborate
an uncontradicted field test can provide legally sufficient evidence of
the presence of a controlled substance for a juvenile delinquency petition.

SUMMARY

Respondent allegedly sold heroin to an
undercover police officer in Manhattan on the afternoon of April 15, 1996.
According the officer's deposition, Respondent gave the officer four glassines
in exchange for $20. The officer used the NIK field test on the substance
in the glassines and determined that the substance was heroin. Respondent
was taken into custody. A petition was filed in Family Court charging Respondent
with juvenile delinquency for the acts of criminal sale of a controlled
substance in the third and fifth degrees and criminal possession of a controlled
substance in the third, fifth, and seventh degrees. The officer filed a
supporting deposition with the petition. During the juvenile delinquency
hearing, Respondent argued that the undercover officer's supporting deposition
describing the results of the NIK field test did not establish the existence
of a controlled substance, which is an element of the crimes charged in
the petition. The Family Court, and later the Appellate Division, held
that the deposition discussing the field test provided legally sufficient
evidence of a controlled substance. The Court of Appeals affirmed.